Friends, Family, and Fortune Telling
by SpenStarTTShowbiz
Summary: Gruel and Manacles.... Well, I still haven't gotten to the Juliet-Henry bowling chapter, but I am posting a little H/C scene mostly comfort scene between Shawn and Gus. I absolutely love those two.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to my dad, who was laid off last month. Also, this is my first Psych fic, so any constructive criticism would be great.

Story Notes: No Character Death Here. However, Definitely Some Angst.

Sitting alone in the Psych office, Burton Guster could barely breathe. How could this happen? What did he do wrong? He wished his best friend, Shawn, would get here quicker, because Gus really needed to vent.

As if on cue, Shawn Spencer barreled into the office. He had a worried frown etched on his face.

"Gus," He said, "I got here as soon as I could. What happened? And aren't you supposed to be at work? You told me you had an important meeting that I couldn't disturb, which I wouldn't any way because it's like 8 o'clock in the morning. I mean don't know how people function this early. You'd think there would be a law against it. A law that said "Only Roosters get up at the crack of daw…"

"Shawn!" Gus said loudly. "Can I tell you what happened?"

"Sure," Shawn sheepishly replied, "It's all about you."

Gus produced the pink slip he was given this morning and handed it to Shawn. Shawn read through the note, and instead of frowning, he smiled.

"This is great," said Shawn, "Now, you can work at Psych full time."

"Great?" Gus snapped, "This is horrible. My whole future is at risk. My salary, my 401k, my health insurance… Shawn, I need this job. I really need the income.

"But…" Shawn said.

"Plus, Gus continued, ignoring his friend, "I'm a good salesman, and I love what I do. I always made my quota on time. I can't believe this happened. In a month, they're even going to take away my car"

Silence filled the room.

"I thought I had an agreement with your boss," Shawn quietly said.

"He was laid off too," Gus grumbled.

"This job is really important to you," Shawn said.

"Yeah," Gus sighed.

For a very small moment, Shawn seemed completely speechless. Gus didn't say anything, because he really didn't care. He didn't do anything wrong, and now, his life was falling to chaos. Gus started to sob. This wasn't fair.

"Gus," Shawn slowly started to smile and said, "don't be a snickerdoodle. I have some tissues on my desk. Go grab some tissues, and then go to the police station. I'm sure the Chief has some cold case files we can solve. Let me take care of Central Coast Pharmaceuticals."

Although Gus didn't want to go over to the station, he did what he was told. He didn't bother to stop and talk to anyone besides the Chief, who took one look at him and then gave him a file.

Gus went straight back to Psych and started reading the file. At first he couldn't concentrate, but Shawn was right, the case did take his mind off of his ex-job.

Or at least it was his ex-job until a couple of hours later, he got a call. His company had decided to hire him back. In fact they offered him a raise and a week of paid vacation before he had to return to work. Although Gus did turn down the raise (no fair getting more money while so many good people are being laid off), he took the vacation time. His nerves needed it.

Later on, Shawn returned to the Psych office smiling and whistling. He had a pineapple smoothie in each hand and proceeded to give one to Gus.

"What did you do, Shawn?" Gus asked, "They called and offered my job, a raise, and an extra week's vacation time."

Somehow, Shawn's smile brightened even more, "I took care of it."

Gus decided to let the topic drop. Knowing Shawn, he'd probably never get a straight answer.

"So," Shawn asked, "did you get a case?"

"Yeah," Gus said, "A John Doe was found at a theme park. The police suspected foul play, but they never found anything.

"A theme park," Shawn happily exclaimed, "This is going to be the best case ever! We're totally going to be like Scooby Doo. We need to get a talking Great Dane and a van . We can totally paint it green. Ooh, and bring Scooby Snacks."

As Shawn chatted on about the cartoon, Gus had only one thought on his mind. Although he would never tell Shawn this, Gus had the best friend ever.

"And we're totally going to pull the mask off of old Mr. Cratchett's face. And we will…"

Definitely the best friend ever.


	2. Helping Others

**Disclaimer:**** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Howdy! I just wanted to say hello and reiterate that any feedback or constructive criticism would be totally awesome. Thanks! **

Leaning in his chair, Shawn was currently engrossed in the Santa Barbara Examiner. In the guise of doing some pharmaceutical paperwork, Gus was actually trying to calm his nerves. Shawn was reading the newspaper. It was never a good sign.

Last time Shawn was this absorbed in a newspaper, Gus walked in to find the Psych office filled with dark chocolate bars. Gus asked (well, demanded) to know why Shawn bought half a candy store, Shawn handed him a news article that said dark chocolate may be healthy for you.

"Isn't that great, Gus?" Shawn said, "Now, being healthy can be fun and delicious."

"Shawn," Gus explained with a frustrated sigh, "anti-oxidants don't diminish the amount of calories or fat in a chocolate bar. Plus, they're not even certain that the health benefits provided by anti-oxidant are worth the amount of weight a person would gain."

"What do you mean?" Shawn asked.

"Your butt would be large as the San Fernando Valley," Gus said.

That shut Shawn up, but Gus spent months getting rid of the candy. He brought them on his sales and handed them out at work. From members of Santa Barbara's finest (the exception being Juliet; Shawn gift wrapped a few bars for her) to the criminals in holding cells, Gus gave out candy to anyone who could eat and didn't have diabetes or hypoglycemia. He was getting rid of the candy pretty well, until…

"Why are you bringing candy here? I told you I was on a diet," his mother scolded him, "And why do you have so much candy anyway? You know they have tons of calories and are no good for you."

Gus tried to explain the article Shawn told him, but his mom wouldn't hear it. To be forgiven, Gus ended up having to write a three page apology letter and for a week, do all his parents' household chores.

Ever since then, Gus had been wary every time Shawn read the paper.

"Holy Jujubes!" Shawn suddenly exclaimed.

Uh-Oh.

Here it comes.

"Gus," Shawn said, in a very shocked voice, "How could somebody do this?"

"They took _The A-Team_ off the air again?" Gus offered. He very much hoped it was a simple problem.

"No, even more serious than that," Shawn said.

Gus knew he was going to regret asking; however, Shawn's loyalty to _The A-Team_ was almost sacrosanct, and to say something was more important made Gus curious.

"What's wrong, Shawn?"

"This Bernie Madoff! He hurt so many people," Shawn said.

Trust Shawn to find out the biggest financial investment fraud weeks after it was exposed.

"It's called a Ponzi scheme," Gus said, "and yes, he defrauded thousands of investors." "A sandwich scheme?" Shawn said, "That doesn't make any sense."

"Not Panini, Shawn," Gus explained, "Ponzi. Named for the 19th and early 20th Century con artist Charles Ponzi, a Ponzi scheme is a scam that lures victims by offering them a quick initial investment, which is not made up by profit but other people's money, to get a new investors to invest more.

Then, one of three scenarios happen: 1. People who started the scheme flee with the investor's money; 2. The scheme will collapse, because there's no money to return; 3. The authorities will discover the scheme and shut it down.

"Wow," said Shawn, "You have the definition off the top of your head?"

Gus gave Shawn a stony look, "Nobody is going to swindle me out of my hard earned cash and investments."

Shawn averted his eyes and suddenly sounded guilt-ridden, "You don't think I'm like Madoff, do you?"

"You may be reckless and childish sometimes…well, often," Gus said, "but you're also most kindhearted I've ever met."

"Really?" Shawn said still sounding unsure.

"Really," Gus said, "you may spend my income on frivolous things like pinball machines, but if I seriously wanted you to stop, I know you would. Besides, claiming you as a dependent helps me with my taxes"

Though Shawn became indignant again, he became his usual, hyper self once more.

"Countries! Charities! Friends! Madoff even cheated his own sister. I mean who steals from their own sister?"

"If I did that to mine," Gus shuddered, "I'd be lucky to go to prison. They'd need an oil drill to exhume my body after Joy got through with it."

"He even cheated Kevin Bacon," Shawn said.

"Well," Gus said, "Hollow Man was a pretty bad movie."

"Gus," Shawn admonished, "this is serious. We have to do something."

"It's not like we can give people their money back," Gus said.

"Gus, that's it!" Shawn snapped his fingers and exclaimed, "I know what we can do."

Gus groaned. Those words almost always brought terrible consequences (most involved avoiding shooting bullets). He hoped he had updated his medical insurance.

"Shawn," Gus said, "I'm not going back to Mexico."

"No, not Mexico, though I do have to talk to you about Spring Break," Shawn said, "but I'm talking about how to help Madoff's victims."

The next day…

Gus had started compiling the 2008 receipts. Although taxes weren't due until April the 15th, he had wanted to get them done as early as he could. Shawn always mocked his non-procrastination, but if it were up to Shawn to get the taxes down, Gus was sure Psych would be audited.

Ha! Gus thought, like I'd ever let Shawn near the taxes.

About a half-hour later, Shawn arrived carrying something in his arms.

"Shawn," Gus nervously asked, "What's that?"

"Its how we're going to help Madoff's victims," Shawn excitedly exclaimed.

"Shawn," Gus sighed, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but there's nothing we can do."

Smiling even wider, Shawn said, "You're not going to say that once you see this."

Shawn revealed his creation to Gus. Gus stared at the object for a moment and then said, "And all the proceeds are going to the charities?"

"Well," Shawn joked, "unless Kevin Bacon wants some."

Some time later…

Carlton Lassiter, Santa Barbara's head detective, savored the morning peace and tranquility. Shawn Spencer and his sidekick had gone out of town for a few days; something about saving the animals. Whatever the reason was, Lassiter didn't care. They were gone.

Somehow, they were able to drag O'Hara with them. Now, Lassiter only had the highest esteem for his partner, but if her participation meant Spencer's absence for a few days, he was all for it.

Better her than me, Lassiter thought.

For the next thirty minutes, Lassiter was in Heaven. He worked quietly on completing paperwork and researching case files. Although the police station was normally pretty noisy, Lassiter found it merely white noise compared to Spencer.

Then Officer Buzz McNab barreled into the station, carrying a stack of newspapers. McNab starting handing one to every person he saw, telling them to open to the inside cover.

Lassiter tried to ignore him, but soon enough, McNab reached his desk and plopped a newspaper right over Lassiter's case files.

"McNab!" Lassiter yelled.

"I'm sorry sir," McNab said, both sheepishly and giddily, "but you have to read this."

"Fine," Lassiter said, "I'll read it. Now, go get me a cup of coffee."

"Yes sir," McNab said.

As soon as McNab was gone, Lassiter decided to peruse the paper. He had to admit he was curious as to what made the young officer so excited; however, the second Lassiter turned the page he wondered no more.

A large smiling Shawn Spencer was staring back at him.

Stunned, Lassiter decided to read the article underneath:

**Local Celeb Does His Part to Help Stimulate the Economy**

**By Susie Epstein**

Shawn Spencer, Santa Barbara's famous Psychic police consultant and former _Explosion Gigantesca de Romance _star, and his partner, Burton Levarstein, have come up with an innovative solution to help the struggling economy.

_Bernie Nerny_ dartboards are flying off California's shelves. Depicting a raspberry blowing Madoff, the game has become a state wide sensation. National and International distributors have expressed great interest in mass producing the game for a much larger audience; however, local business have also seen record internet sales.

"It's been great. We just keep having to order more," said Adam Jacobs, a Sacramento business owner.

The game has also come as a welcome temporary relief to US manufacturing plants, who have been badly suffering as a result of the current economic crisis and global outsourcing.

"People are willing to spend the few extra bucks to get a chance to take a swing at that b******," Roger Johnson, a manufacturing worker for one local distributor, said. He also admitted that he had bought several dart boards himself for various family members and friends.

There are also plans to expand the _Berny Nerny _line to include other business leaders being held responsible for the current economic climate.

"I bought one for my dad," Homemaker Nancy Adelstein said, "He lost everything to Madoff. It's no consolation, but it has been helping him relieve some tension."

As for Spencer and Levarstein, they plan to donate their share of the proceeds to charitable organizations victimized by the disgraced business leader Bernard Madoff.

"It's the least we can do," Spencer said, "a guy who rips off charities deserves to be stung a bit."

Lassiter set the paper down. He had been planning on buying a _Bernie Nerny_ for a cousin who had lost money to Madoff. The fact that Shawn Spencer would do something like this was both mind-boggling and impressive. Lassiter shook his head in slight amusement. Even out of town, Shawn Spencer still managed to shake his day.

**Chapter End Notes:**

**I don't know why I'm on such an economic kick. I promise the next chapter will have nothing to do with the economy. I just can't imagine how messed a person would have to be to steal from charities, and I imagine Shawn wouldn't be able to either **


	3. Gruel and Manacles

**Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**

Have you ever used a random word generator to produce story ideas? I did, and this story is the result. The word is gruel. I also think Shawn is an eternal optimist, which plays a role in this story.

Oh, and for those of you who read Driving into the Darkened Sunset, I posted the full version of chapter 2 (versus the preview I gave you beforehand). I just wanted to let you know, because from the outside, it doesn't look like I posted anything new; however, I did.

So go read, enjoy, review (if you'd like to), make brownies.... oh, and you can also do the same here too :D

Also, BIG THANKS to my beta reader, raineblack007.

Enjoy.

Dusty gray walls surrounded the two best friends. Both men hated neutral colors, but long, thick chains bound them to the dull room. Dim fluorescent fixtures high above them provided the room's only lights.

Gus fingered his food with disgust. He couldn't remember the last time he had something palatable

"How long," Gus asked his best friend, "do you think we've been eating this gruel?"

"Gruel, Gus?" Shawn, while trying to scratch his cuff-concealed wrist, laughed, "Are we in Oliver Twist now?"

Gus huffed. "Okay, Mr. Food connoisseur, what would you call it?"

"I'd call it torture," Shawn said, "it's one thing to lock a man in a dingy basement, but come on, at the very least, creepy flannel guy could do is get us a couple of burritos. Vary things up a bit."

"Shawn," Gus retorted, "I don't think he's interested in making us feel comfortable."

Shawn stopped his attempts to scratch his wrist, "well, he does let us shower, shave, and use a toilet. That's more than we had in Mexico."

"Uh, yeah," Gus replied, "so he can stare at us through the wall."

"Gus, Gus, Gus," Shawn said, teasingly, "It's totally not Psycho. He looks nothing like Norman Bates, and I don't even think he ever knew his mother."

Discarding his gruel bowl, Gus didn't relent, "he makes you sit with him when he watches TV."

"I already explained that to you," Shawn said, "he wants me up there when he's betting on games."

"You're lucky your picks have all won," Gus continued, "and, by the way, how long have you had this ability to pick football team winners?"

"Not just football winners," Shawn said, "I can choose baseball and basketball teams also. They're easier to read than _Hop on Pop_. Now, Hockey picks are much more difficult."

"Whatever, Shawn," Gus was now annoyed, "It doesn't change the fact that there are holes in the shower wall."

"So the house is old…," Shawn reasoned.

"And he pats you on the head every time he comes down here," Gus said.

"Okay, okay, so he's a creepy kidnapper and has hurt my poor hair," Shawn sighed, ruffling his flattened brown hair (shower and shave but no hair gel….boo), "at least, we're still alive, and he has locked us in with totally cool antique manacles. Dude, I thought they didn't even exist anymore. When we get out, we're totally going to have to donate them to Sophie's museum. In fact, we're totally going to end up having our own wing. Between finding Bouchard's treasure, Zippy the Dinosaur, and now, ancient Manacles, they're going to have to have a "Shawn and Gus" exhibit."

"Shawn and Gus," Gus replied, indignant, "why not a "Gus and Shawn" exhibit?"

"Because, Gus, it'd be the perfect opportunity to promote Psych," Shawn explained, "in fact, we might want to spice it up a bit more, "Mysterious Mystic's Exhibit of Wondrous Natural Treasures," or we could go with an old classic, "Psychman and Magic Head Find a Dinosaur, Buried Treasure, and More. I think we should go searching for the ruins of Atlantis next. My guess: off the coast of Brazil."

"Shawn, stop it," Gus said, waving his weary arms, as high as the manacles would let him, "the name doesn't matter, because we're never getting out of here.

"Gus, don't be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Jules and Lassie will save us," Shawn said,

"How do you know they will?" Gus asked in a very beaten voice.

But Shawn continued his thought uninterrupted, "although, I really hope they won't have Dad with them. I'm thinking his next lecture will have intermissions, so I'd really rather wait until I've recovered…say in thirty years or so."

"How do you know they will save us?" Gus repeated slightly louder.

For a second, Shawn said nothing. His friend's wide brown eyes needed an answer to this question.

"I don't," Shawn said, "But I do know that our last meal isn't going to be gruel. I picture pineapple wedges, cheese-fused fries, and a newspaper headline that says:

"Shawn Spencer and Turtle Englewood, died as they lived, having fun under the Santa Barbara sun."

**Chapter End Notes:**

So what'd ya think? I'd really like to know. Comments? Critiques? Pineapple?


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